A mammoth undertaking

I’ve got tons of annual leave to use up before Christmas, and an edict has come down from on high at work to “use it or lose it”, so I booked the day off today. The main task of the day was to get the car serviced and through its MOT test, so I couldn’t have a lie in but instead needed to get the car to the garage for soon after 9:30. In the past, when we had two cars, Chris and I would drive in convoy to the garage, drop off the one that needed servicing, and still have the other car to use for the rest of the day. That’s obviously not possible now, so I had to think what to do for a day off work with no car.

The garage I use is just around the corner from Malvern Link station, so I decided to catch the train into Worcester for the day. I totally failed to do any Christmas shopping – I had a complete lack of inspiration – but did have a rather nice lunch in a little brasserie which Christopher and I used to favour. I was pleased to see that it was still there. I then walked along to the library to kill some time somewhere warm. Worcester City library has a small museum on the top floor, which I remember from growing up in Worcester as being dull and very provincial. But I decided to have a look around it anyway, and was very pleased that I did.

The Worcestershire Hoard

There was a temporary exhibition, which finishes tomorrow, about the Worcestershire Hoard. This is a hoard of 3874 Roman coins, dating from the middle of the 3rd Century, which was found over the summer on Bredon Hill. It was found by a couple of metal detectorists, who thankfully did the right thing and contacted the appropriate authorities, so that a proper excavation could be carried out. It turns out to be by far the biggest hoard ever found in Worcestershire, and to be of national importance. Most of the coins are now at the British Museum for cleaning and conservation, but a small selection are on display at the museum for us locals to see what all the fuss is about. Just last week the coroner declared the find Treasure Trove, which means that it becomes Crown property, but the finders and the landowner will share the market value. The hoard is currently being valued, and then Worcester Museum will have four months to raise that sum to buy it.  They had already started the fund-raising, and I was happy to contribute to it.

The Worcestershire Hoard is by no means as exciting to look at as the Anglo-Saxon gold in the Staffordshire Hoard which Chris and I had a memorable trip to see last year. But I still found it interesting to see, and the museum had gone to a lot of trouble to present it well. I was pleased that I’d managed to catch the exhibition before it finishes. And my car passed its MOT, so all in all it was a good day!